What is GUS?
GUS is short for Gorilla User Services. GUS is a collection of applications
written specifically to be accessed via the World Wide Web (www). The
applications currently available are address changes, transcripts, class
schedules, grades at the end of each semester and on-line enrollment.
GUS is also used by faculty and staff of Pittsburg State University to
access secure information, appropriate to their position and services.

What does GUS offer?
GUS is a collection of web-based applications that are used by students,
faculty and staff. Included on GUS are forms for changing addresses, reviewing
your class schedules, printing out an unofficial transcript (correct and
current, but not stamped with the university seal or printed on the official
looking transcript paper). Introduced in the spring of 1998 was the groundbreaking
web-based enrollment application. Additional applications are constantly
being added. Some of the future applications will include finding out
where you owe money on campus, checking hold information, checking your
financial assistance information, and others that only you can think up.
If you have any ideas drop a line into the electronic GUS mailbox.

GusPIN Questions

What is a GusPIN?
The GusPIN is separate and unrelated to any other passwords you may have
for the computer systems here at PSU. This password is used specifically
for accessing PSU's web-based information systems, such as those found
under GUS.

Where do I get my GusPIN?
A GusPIN can be obtained at the OIS Service Desk located at 158 Kelce
Center. Eventually it will be generated for you automatically at the time
you are admitted to the University.

I'm from out of town, how
do I get a GusPIN?
You can get a GusPIN by printing the form found at http://www.pittstate.edu/regis/guspin.request.html,
filling it out appropriately (including a current photo id) and either
mailing it or faxing it as instructed on the bottom of the form.

How do I change my GusPIN?
Once you receive your password, it is recommended you change it to an
appropriate password using the recommendations provided. You can change
your GusPIN by accessing the following url: /pref.gus.pw.change
or by entering GUS and selecting Change GusPIN under Personal Information.
You can also request a GusPIN change at the OIS Service Window located
at 158 Kelce Center. However, when having OIS change your password it
will be a random selection, you cannot specify the password.

What do I do if I lose or forget my GusPIN?
If you lose or forget your GusPIN, you can receive a new one at the OIS
Service Window at 158 Kelce Center. You must have a current photo ID in
order to receive a new password. If you are out of town, see the question
above (I'm out of town, how do I get a GusPIN?).

You will use the same GusPIN every semester--there is no need to obtain
a new one for enrollment. So, it is best to change your password to something
you can easily remember. You can do this from the main menu once you log
into GUS.

What is my PSU ID number and where can I find it?
The PSU ID number is a nine-digit number that is unique to each student,
faculty, or staff member. Your ID number can be found in the lower left-hand
corner of your PSU Gorilla Card. The leading 0s can be omitted when logging
in.

Accessing GUS

How do I log into GUS?
To log into GUS you will need to know your PSU ID number and you will
need to have a GusPIN. You will also need to work from a computer with
Internet access. If you do not have one available you can visit the Axe
Library or one of the many labs across campus.

First visit the PSU home page
and select GUS. This should take you to a screen asking for your PSU ID
and a GusPIN. The first step is to enter your PSU ID number. To move to
the second step you may either press the "Tab" key on your keyboard or
use the mouse. The second step is where you will enter you GusPIN. Please
keep in mind that the GusPIN is case sensitive. Finally click the Login
button to enter GUS.

Why can't I login to the GUS system?
There are six common reasons why you are not able to log into GUS:

You have not obtained a GusPIN and are trying to use GUS with some
other password. You can obtain your GusPIN at the OIS Service Window
at 158 Kelce Center.

You have not typed your PSU ID number in correctly. Any 'ohs' in
your PSU ID number are zeros and not the letter 'O'.

You have mistyped your GusPIN. The GusPIN is a case-sensitive password.
You must type capital letters as capitals and lower case letters as
lower case. You should check to make sure the "Caps Lock" key is not
set (usually there is a light on the keyboard that will indicate this),
and re-enter your login information.

You are not allowing "cookies" to be set on your machine. The GUS
system requires the use of cookies on the part of the clientÕs browser.
You should examine your browser preferences and set your browser to
accept cookies. Symptoms of this problem are that it brings you back
to the login screen. Follow this link for more
on cookies.

Your computer's time or time zone is not set correctly. You are
an AOL user. We have known problems with AOL users attempting to log
into the GUS system. You can begin by double checking the four items
above and looking at the AOL question below to
see if any of these resolve your problems.

How do I log out of GUS?
Logging out involves a 3-step process. It is very highly recommended that
you perform ALL of the following steps, especially the cache flushing
steps.

At the bottom of every screen in the GUS system, there is a navigational
bar. There is an option, usually the second from the left, labeled
"Quit GUS". To log out of the GUS system, you need to click on this
button. Logging out helps ensure that no one else can "assume your
identity" by sitting down at the computer right after you leave.

After clicking on the "Quit GUS" button, a screen of instructions
will come up advising you to flush the cache of your browser. Flushing
the browser's cache erases any files that may have been created during
your GUS session. These files may contain some sensitive personal
information. Flushing the cache erases these files, and hampers other
people's ability to browse through that information after you leave
your computer.

You should completely exit your browser. This will erase anything
that your browser may be storing in memory. Again, this will safeguard
your information.

Why do I need to log out of GUS?
The GUS system allows students and faculty easy web-based access to information
about students such as addresses, phone numbers, schedules, course information,
transcripts, and enrollment. While much of the information can be found
easily enough in the university phone book or web search, there is some
information that you may not want other people to view such as transcripts,
grades or personal information. Following the 3-step log out procedure
exactly is the best way to help insure that your information remains private.
What the log out procedure helps to ensure is that any information that
may be stored on the machine that you are using to access GUS is erased
from the computer's hard drive (disk cache) and memory (memory cache).
Completely exiting your browser also forces any memory your operating
system has allocated to your browser be released and essentially erased.

Do I have to enroll on-line or can I do it the
old fashioned way?
All student enrollment is conducted on-line. This helps students avoid
the traditional long lines. If you feel you need assistance please
contact your advisor, their department or the RegistrarÕs office.

If I'm in the honors college, will I be able
to enroll a day early?
Yes, you will be allowed to enroll with the class above you; we do
check for enrollment in the honors college.

What is an Advisement Number?
An advisement number is a randomly generated number that your advisor
will give you prior to enrollment. They may give this to you when
you meet with them during the days or weeks prior to enrollment opening.
However, many times your advisor may want to enroll you instead of
giving you the advisement number. Your advisor will then enroll you
on your day of enrollment. An advisement number, in addition to a
GusPIN is needed to enroll in classes for the upcoming semester.

Can I use Lynx to enroll?
Yes, but you must use a version of Lynx that supports cookies. We
use cookies to help identify an active GUS session, and versions of
Lynx prior to 2.7.2 do not support cookies. You can use Lynx, if you
are on-campus, by telneting to mail.pittstate.edu, log in using your
email userid and password, and they type "lynx" at the "$" prompt.
If you are off-campus, you can obtain a copy of LynX to use on your
home PC in conjunction with your own dial-up Internet Service, from
the following url: http://lynx.isc.org/
We do not provide assistance in the installation or configuration
of this software package.

I am having problems printing the schedule,
what do I do?
There are three possibilities as to why you are receiving this message:

Your computer's date and time are incorrect. Because we want
you to have the freshest information available and to protect
your information, we set most pages to expire in 12 minutes. If
your computer's date and time are off significantly from the server's
date and time, resources that you pull up will always be expired.
In turn, this forces you to reload the page. To check the time
on the server you can go to the following url: /date.

The resource you requested is not being cached. Since some
information that is being generated by the GUS applications is
personal and/or sensitive, we set some pages to not be cached
on the client (that is, the computer you are using to access the
resource). If the resource is not cached on the client, it is
essentially an expired resource, and you are forced to reload
to get a fresh copy from the server.

Your time zone information is incorrect. Not having the time
zone set properly adversely affects when a document expires from
the browser's cache. Use the following instructions to set the
appropriate time zone.

Windows 95/NT 4.0/2000

Double click the time in the lower right corner
of the system tray.

In the dialog box that pops up select the Time Zone tab.

Use the drop down menu to select the correct entry for
"your" time zone.

Also, check the box marked daylight savings time.

Last, click OK to save your changes.

Macintosh Users

Open your control panels, by clicking on the Apple
menu at the top left side of the screen.

Open the Date and Time control panel.

Make sure the daylight savings time box is check, if you
are under daylight savings time.

Click on the Set Time Zone button in the lower left corner
of the dialog box.

Pick a city, like "Dallas", that is in the central time zone.

Check your time and date while you're there.

Close the Date and Time control panel window.

Shutdown and then power back on.

Explanation of Cookies

Why are you using cookies?
We use cookies to set a session identifier on the client machine.
This identifier allows us to keep track of a current GUS session between
connections. When you make a request from our server you receive a
document in response. Generally, after the server delivers a document,
it "forgets" about you. However, during enrollment and other GUS related
transactions; we need to know who is on the other end of the connection.
Cookies "remind" the server of which client is making the request.

What is a cookie anyway?
A cookie is a small text file that is stored on your computer. When
you login to the GUS system, the GUS system creates these text files
to maintain information about your current GUS session. The message
is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page
from the server. GUS, for example, needs to create a text file to
add or drop classes for the appropriate person during enrollment.
Most cookies expire after a certain time period. For example, the
text files created by GUS expire after 12 minutes.

Why do I have to allow cookies?
During development, we chose to use cookies as the method of keeping
track of information regarding a person's GUS session. There are really
two ways to maintain this information: cookies and hidden form fields.
There are several major drawbacks to using hidden form fields to perpetuate
data through multiple web transactions. Our biggest concerns were
with privacy and security. Cookies are much less susceptible to manipulation
and hacking attempts; we use a randomly generated key as the cookie.
Cookies can also be set to expire. In addition, the web server also
maintains a set of "active" cookies and expires them. The information
they protect/maintain actually resides on the web server, which adds
another layer of security.

The most popular browsers, such as Netscape Navigator and Internet
Explorer, can be set to give you the option of accepting or rejecting
all cookies. Some users reject all cookies because they believe that
a highly skilled but dishonest person could use these files to harm
their computers. No one can say for sure whether these concerns are
justified, but there are measures you can use to protect yourself.

GUS requires that you set your browser to accept cookies. If
you want to know whenever a cookie is placed on your computer,
you can set your browser to alert you before a cookie is placed
on your computer. This alert will allow you to accept or reject
the cookie.

Accept cookies only from websites created by institutions (like
PSU) you know and trust.

Set your browser to accept only cookies originating from the
same server as the page being viewed.

I am using America Online (AOL)
and I am having problems with GUS.
You may be experiencing problems accessing the GUS system when using AOL.
Typically, this is caused by not using the appropriate version of AOL
software. You should check that your AOL version matches your operating
system version. You can check your software version by clicking on the
"Help" menu item, and then the "About America Online" item.

Most times the solution for problems with AOL or CompuServe is to connect
to AOL using the AOL browser. Once connected to AOL, start up a different
browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. Use that browser, not
AOL's, to connect to the GUS system.

Why don't my records (grades, transcripts, etc.)
show up under GUS?
Here are the most common reasons why records do not show up for you under
the GUS system:

First, you may not be a student, alumni, faculty or staff member. If for
some reason you have obtained a GusPIN but do not fall into one of these
categories, you will likely not have any records to display.

Second, you could be a student but your information has not been entered
into our campus database yet. If you are a new or transfer student this
is particularly true. We may not have received your records from your
previous school(s); if it's been a while you may want to confirm that
your previous school(s) has sent the information. If your information
was received in a non-electronic form, we may not have entered it into
the campus database yet. If you are a transfer student, transcripts often
need to be evaluated which may delay records from being viewed on-line.
Also, you may not be "officially" admitted to the university. This may
be because you have not paid the application fee or submitted a required
form or information.

Lastly, you could be an alumnus whose records have not been entered into
the database. PSU began putting records into campus database in 1984.
If you attended PSU before 1984 and have not been back since, your records
will not be on-line. If you were here between 1984 and 1988, your records
may be on-line. If you were here after 1988, your records will be on-line.

How can I reserve textbooks for my classes?
There are two ways to reserve your books for the semester, and both allow
you to request used books if available.

You can access the Pittsburg State University Follett website at http://pittstate.bkstore.com.
Following the screen instructions select the session, department, then
the course number and section for which you would like to purchase textbooks.

The other method is to complete a book reservation form at the University
Bookstore. The form asks for personal information (name, address, etc.)
and for a list of your courses. (The course information you'll need is
the department, course number and section number.) Return the completed
form in person or by mail to the University Bookstore in the Student Center.

Pittsburg State University
1701 South Broadway, Pittsburg KS 66762, 620-231-7000